Dawn of peace seen

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Today marks the dawn of a new partnership between the government and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) with the historic signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) after 17 years of negotiations.

“It has come a long, long way after decades of the Bangsamoro struggle. It’s a welcome development because at last the fighting will now come to an end,” MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghazali Jaafar said yesterday on the eve of the signing of the peace agreement with the government.

MILF chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim will lead a 400-member delegation to Malacañang for today’s signing, which Jaafar said marks the end of the Bangsamoro struggle.

“I am happy for this because as their leader in their struggle, we can now deliver to them the Bangsamoro government,” Jaafar told The STAR.

Jaafar said the struggle has been very hard, such that everyone in the Bangsamoro homeland has, in one way or the other, lost a family member or relative in the fighting over the past years.

Jaafar also lamented the number of children left orphaned by the conflict.

“The decades-old struggle of the Bangsamoro people also saw thousands rendered homeless as their homes were razed by the fires brought about by the clashes,” Jaafar said.

The government and the MILF are all set for the historic ceremony.

The MILF was allowed 400 slots in the occasion that would be attended by representatives from the international community and local stakeholders.

“We’re given a quota of 400 people. We know that the Palace grounds could only accommodate a limited number,” Jaafar said.

He said the MILF delegation would be composed of senior members of the central and provincial committees and ground commanders.

Malacañang said the main venue – the Palace grounds – was already prepared and security would be tight since President Aquino and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak would lead the signing ceremony to be joined by more than a thousand guests.

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles said the celebration would not just be in Manila but in Mindanao and other areas.

“(In) Maguindanao, the governor has already said he will host a ‘Kanduli’ (banquet) after the signing. There will be (similar celebrations) in Mendiola and many other parts of the country,” Deles said.

For logistical concerns, Deles said the signing would be held in Manila and around 400 members of the MILF, among other guests, would attend.

Groups like the Bangsamoro Movement for Peace and Development, Kite Association of the Philippines, National Youth Commission, Young Moro Professionals Network, OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) for Peace, among others, also have their own activities to celebrate the signing.

Cardinal Orlando Quevedo, the country’s first Cardinal from Mindanao, was expected to attend the signing.

Quevedo was among those personally invited by President Aquino to the event.

Aquino also invited former president now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada.

Estrada, however, sent his regrets, saying he is merely a local official who does not want to meddle in national affairs.

“That is a national issue. I am only in local government. Yes, I was invited. But that is a national concern,” Estrada said. “I just wish and also pray that it will end the almost 40 years of secessionist movement. Let us hope and pray that it will be successful.”

In 2000, then President Estrada launched an all-out offensive against the MILF, which led to the fall of all 46 rebel camps, including Camp Abubakar, headquarters of the rebel group in Maguindanao.

“I also negotiated with them (MILF). We had peace talks with them. But they insist on having a sub-state for them. For me, that is non-negotiable. As president, it is my duty to protect our country’s integrity,” Estrada said.

The rival group Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), however, is hoping that the Supreme Court will stop today’s signing of the peace agreement with the MILF.

Habib Mujahab Hashim, chairman of the MNLF’s Islamic Command Council, said they filed a petition before the SC last December but this has yet to be acted on.

“The petition has been there but no action. However, it has not been turned down (either). It’s part of our last ditch effort and hopefully the Supreme Court will act in our favor,” Hashim said.

If they cannot get favorable action from the high court, Hashim said they would pursue the case before the United Nations.

“This is just a legal option. Aside from this we have another avenue, which is the UN,” he said.

The MNLF has opposed the peace efforts of the government with the rival MILF on fears it would sideline and render inutile the 1996 peace agreement.

Some senior security officials also observed today’s signing of the peace agreement is just half of the solution to end the decades-old conflict in Mindanao.

The senior officials pointed to the implementation phase of the agreement as a major challenge for all stakeholders concerned.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin earlier pointed out the peace agreement with the MILF is not an end-it-all solution to the Mindanao conflict.

Another senior security official said that while peace negotiators painstakingly concluded the talks with a compact peace agreement, enforcing and implementing it on the ground would be doubly difficult.

One of the contentious issues raised and agreed on during the peace negotiations is the normalization phase, where the MILF has agreed to demobilize its fighters and the accounting and turning over of their firearms to a third party composed of local and international experts.

“By tradition, gun is part of the Muslim way of life and agreeing to account for and turning these firearms to an independent body, the MILF leadership is up for a major challenge in enforcing this agreement,” said another senior military official.

On top of this, the MILF must also address the security problems in Mindanao arising from land disputes not only among Muslims residents but also involving the landed politicians as well as other vested interest groups.

The official said that because of the decades-old conflict in Mindanao, a majority of the Muslim population in the region have been marginalized and believe that once the CAB is signed, they would be entitled to reoccupy lands now owned and tilled by their Christian counterparts.

Government chief peace negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, however, called on spoilers to allow the peace process to succeed.

“Many people helped to make this happen. Let us give this a chance. The guarantee will depend on what hard work we will put into it. It is complicated in Mindanao. It is not easy. Let us have a start. Let us give importance to this,” Ferrer said.

Support

Lawmakers led by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. expressed support for today’s signing of the peace agreement with the MILF.

“We welcome and hail this latest development that would end four decades of fighting in Central Mindanao. We are fully supportive of the Bangsamoro agreement and we will just wait for the draft bill,” Belmonte said, referring to the proposed organic law that would carry out the agreement.

Rep. Sitti Djalia Turabin-Hataman of party-list group Anak Mindanao said the agreement was the result of President Aquino’s sincerity and commitment to bring about peace in Mindanao.

Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III said the entire nation should be happy for the people of Mindanao.

Another Isabela congressman, Giorgidi Aggabao, said he expects some groups to question the constitutionality of the peace agreement and the basic law before the Supreme Court.

Rep. Ashley Acedillo of party-list group Magdalo said Congress should ensure that the proposed organic law would be “within the bounds of our Constitution, responsive to the needs of the Muslim, Christian and indigenous communities that it seeks to govern, and would guarantee a peaceful and prosperous autonomous region within the bounds of a Filipino nation.”

The Sultanate of Sulu also expressed support for the CAB.

Sultanate spokesman Abraham Idjirani said the drafting of the new law on Bangsamoro must be based on the basic historical rights of the people in Mindanao.

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Mujiv Hataman also expressed support for the peace process.

Hataman said there would be “peace-tahan” activities in the ARMM to celebrate the signing of the agreement with the MILF.

“The peace-tahan activities at the ARMM compound are meant to show our appreciation for the signing of the final peace deal between the government and the MILF,” Hataman said.

The MILF will hold simultaneous peace rallies in various cities and towns in Mindanao on the signing of the peace agreement.

The joint government-MILF ceasefire committee will jointly oversee the security and safety of the peace rallies, according to sources from the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, which has jurisdiction over Maguindanao and North Cotabato.

The ARMM’s regional police office has tightened security in areas in the region’s five provinces and two cities as part of security preparations. – John Unson, Roel Pareño, Jess Diaz, Aurea Calica, Jaime Laude, Jose Rodel Clapano, Perseus Echeminada, Pia Lee-Brago